Comments
Meaning
Usage
Pronunciation
Famous
Impression
Other
Pretty!
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This is a ballsy choice of name.
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Sounds too close to "media". To be honest, I didn't know it was also the name of a mythological character until reading these comments, but yeah, any association with her would be a reason not to use it.
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Also Italian.
It has been used for newborns every year since national statistics. The highest peak of popularity was in 2013 when 18 Medea were born in Italy while 7 Medea were born in 2018.
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It has been used for newborns every year since national statistics. The highest peak of popularity was in 2013 when 18 Medea were born in Italy while 7 Medea were born in 2018.
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The IPA transcription of the Georgian pronunciation of Medea is: /mɛdɛɑ/
Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%93%E1%83%94%E1%83%90 (in English) [noted -ed]
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Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E1%83%9B%E1%83%94%E1%83%93%E1%83%94%E1%83%90 (in English) [noted -ed]
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This is my name! I didn't like it as a kid, but now I absolutely adore it. I've never met anyone with the same name, and 9 times out of 10 when I introduce myself I hear "oh, pretty name!". I like that it has a mythological backstory. And yes, I do like the controversial character of Medea but I guess I might be a bit biased... Most people I meet don't seem to be that familiar with the Greek tragedy though, which makes it even more special when they do know it and instantly make a reference to it. I think my name sounds beautiful, powerful, unique and intellectual. Thanks dad for giving me this name :)
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Medea just reminds me of the weird character. I would like it much more if it didn't.
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Weird character? Are you kidding me? Tyler Perry's hilarious.
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My name is Medea and I've always hated it. Personally been teased about it for as long as I can remember, even being called Medusa. Then the Tyler Perry movies came along and I was heckled about those. While it's a great tragic Greek tale, I don't think it was wise of my mother to choose the name. People can be particularly cruel when encountering something different or unique from the norm.
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I had a friend in college with this name, but spelt Mediya. I liked it - it's unusual without being too wacky, with a kind of poetry to it. She wasn't Greek though, interestingly enough, but Pakistani; I don't know where her parents got the name from.
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I love this name when it's pronounced meh-DAY-a. Otherwise, it just sounds like media, and it's plain ugly.
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Caster Medea from Fate Stay night is a bearer I remembered, so it's kind of cool.
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I think it's pretty, but I don't think it's usable due to the mythological association, and due to the fact that it's too close to Madea.
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I've also heard it pronounced Mə-DAY-ə. I love it with this pronunciation, but I'm not sure if I'd use it, because of the myth behind it and the fact it's well known (but I can't really talk since my favourite name's Pandora).
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Minor pop-culture/film trivia note in response to a few comments above: the character in the Tyler Perry films is MADEA not MEDEA. The pronunciation is very close, as the name is obviously inspired by the ancient Greek witch, but the original Medea was a Latin name, spelled with the same Latin alphabet that English uses. "Madea" is a misspelling of the name; I personally do not consider the two to be the same, but I concede this is my opinion, and it may be open to interpretation. I still love the name, and the original character.
Also, it is important to note that in Jason & Madea's contemporary era 3,000 years ago, murder, even the murder of a close relative, was a commonality in literature and art. As mentioned before, Medea was a "tragic heroine" by her day's standards.
It can be difficult to appreciate such starkly different values and mores of ancient worlds when most of us are well-conditioned to modern connotations. I have done more research on the culture of the times of ancient Greece, and had Medea not killed and dismembered her own brother, her own father was going to do the same to her. Also, if she had not killed her own children, they absolutely would have been forced into slavery, assassinated by their own father, or forced into the front lines of battle so they would be slaughtered in the first enemy confrontation (a common occurrence for the period), so Medea was, in fact, sparing her children a much more tortuous end at the hands of their selfish father than they suffered when their mother ended their lives. Sadly, she did them a favor. We must also remember that she kissed her boys and told them she loved them before she took their lives. It is VERY difficult to see filicide as an act of love and kindness, but that is what the original Medea did. If Medea had lived in the 20th or 21st century, she would have just taken full custody of the boys, then financially crippled her ex-husband with monstrous court ordered child support payments and alimony for life, and if he didn't cut that check every month, she would have had his driver's license revoked, his checks garnished, and had him arrested repeatedly.
But the play is not set in the modern era, it is in ancient Greece when divorces were dealt with very, very differently then they are in our times. ;)
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Also, it is important to note that in Jason & Madea's contemporary era 3,000 years ago, murder, even the murder of a close relative, was a commonality in literature and art. As mentioned before, Medea was a "tragic heroine" by her day's standards.
It can be difficult to appreciate such starkly different values and mores of ancient worlds when most of us are well-conditioned to modern connotations. I have done more research on the culture of the times of ancient Greece, and had Medea not killed and dismembered her own brother, her own father was going to do the same to her. Also, if she had not killed her own children, they absolutely would have been forced into slavery, assassinated by their own father, or forced into the front lines of battle so they would be slaughtered in the first enemy confrontation (a common occurrence for the period), so Medea was, in fact, sparing her children a much more tortuous end at the hands of their selfish father than they suffered when their mother ended their lives. Sadly, she did them a favor. We must also remember that she kissed her boys and told them she loved them before she took their lives. It is VERY difficult to see filicide as an act of love and kindness, but that is what the original Medea did. If Medea had lived in the 20th or 21st century, she would have just taken full custody of the boys, then financially crippled her ex-husband with monstrous court ordered child support payments and alimony for life, and if he didn't cut that check every month, she would have had his driver's license revoked, his checks garnished, and had him arrested repeatedly.
But the play is not set in the modern era, it is in ancient Greece when divorces were dealt with very, very differently then they are in our times. ;)
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I don't care for the psychic story behind it (although I love Greek mythology), it's a beautiful name and I'd definitely use it.
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The name Medea is also frequently used in Georgia, where it is written as მედეა. [noted -ed]
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As a fictional character, Medea is immensely strong and tragic. She achieved her goal (to ruin the rest of her unfaithful husband's life), but at what personal cost? I would even consider Medea for a daughter... if it weren't for the Tyler Perry movies.
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How can anyone possibly like this name?! Not only does it sound horrible but you'll be naming your child after a psycho you killed HER OWN children to punish her husband for leaving her! You might as well name her Jack the Ripper or Hitler or even Satan.
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Medea was also a priestess of Hecate. She killed her baby brother, throwing the pieces out to sea to distract her father's navy from catching them.
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Medea is a recurring character in several of Tyler Perry's films.
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Vienna Teng has a very beautiful song called "My Medea". :) I like this name.
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Don't like it. It sounds too close to "media", which of course the girl will be called. And the association with the mythological figure makes this name rather over-the-top, despite Medea being an interesting figure.
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It's a very strong and beautiful name, I agree with previous comment!
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Breakofday is correct! The name is of Greek origin, and I have heard that it means "ruling."
Medea, a powerful witch, was the granddaughter of Helios (the Sun). She was also the aunt of the witch Circe who held Odysseus and his men captive during his voyage home from Troy. The brief details on this site about the name are grammatically incorrect; therefore, they are misleading. I read: "For revenge Medea slew Jason's new lover and also had her own children by Jason killed." This passive voice sentence implies that she may have had someone else commit the murders, but in the original Greek play it is clear that she takes her boys behind the curtain and slits their throats herself. She then throws their lifeless bodies down from the tower to the feet of Jason, and her grandfather sends a dragon-drawn chariot of fire to carry her off into the sky.
The negative connotations by modern standards are obvious. She reads as a vengeful, cold woman who murders anyone in her way, even her own children. If you try and look at it through the lens of ancient Greece--see that Jason's abandonment of her and the boys in favor of a young princess and a new kingdom would have left her sons to lead the lives of servants--you can see that from her perspective she may have believed she was doing the boys a great favor. Without Jason, she had no rights, and if Jason should have had a new son, his first two would have lost all birthrights. Again, this was a different time and place, and if she was truly meant to be a villain then the play would not have ended with her being the only one being rescued by a God.
I see her as a tragic hero. I like the name, and I would give it to a daughter.
6
Medea, a powerful witch, was the granddaughter of Helios (the Sun). She was also the aunt of the witch Circe who held Odysseus and his men captive during his voyage home from Troy. The brief details on this site about the name are grammatically incorrect; therefore, they are misleading. I read: "For revenge Medea slew Jason's new lover and also had her own children by Jason killed." This passive voice sentence implies that she may have had someone else commit the murders, but in the original Greek play it is clear that she takes her boys behind the curtain and slits their throats herself. She then throws their lifeless bodies down from the tower to the feet of Jason, and her grandfather sends a dragon-drawn chariot of fire to carry her off into the sky.
The negative connotations by modern standards are obvious. She reads as a vengeful, cold woman who murders anyone in her way, even her own children. If you try and look at it through the lens of ancient Greece--see that Jason's abandonment of her and the boys in favor of a young princess and a new kingdom would have left her sons to lead the lives of servants--you can see that from her perspective she may have believed she was doing the boys a great favor. Without Jason, she had no rights, and if Jason should have had a new son, his first two would have lost all birthrights. Again, this was a different time and place, and if she was truly meant to be a villain then the play would not have ended with her being the only one being rescued by a God.
I see her as a tragic hero. I like the name, and I would give it to a daughter.
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I adore the name, but I doubt I would ever use it because of the connotation.
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First time when I heard the name was in a concert hall - the orchestra played Medea's Meditation and Dance of Vengeance, composed by Samuel Barber. It was something I never foget. After that evening I cannot hear this strong name without Barber-association. I love the way it sounds, the story behind it, but I would never, never in my life use it. Medea is too hard name to live with, especially for a little girl!
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I really love this name. I think I might use it if/when I have a daughter.
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Medea´s pet forms are Meeda, Meddy, Medusha, Medeia.
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It sounds so evil in a way I like it.
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I love the name Medea - it's really powerful - something like a heroine's name.
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Medea was a woman who could have no babies. As a result her husband left her and married a woman who had seven children for him. Medea is said to have killed all but one child. The child's name was Jason.
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I don't know where the previous poster got her/his info, but that story doesn't add up to the Greek legend. Medea did have children and their father was Jason. He deserted her for a newer model after she helped him escape her father's wrath. She avenged herself upon Jason by killing his new bride, his new father-in-law, and their own children. Read the story!
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In my book "The Virgin Book of Baby Names", it states that Medea means "middle girl" (as does Messina). I'm assuming both of these are of Latin origin
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